COPENHAGEN – While conflict and natural disasters are usually played out in the media against dramatic scenes of mass casualty response and rescue teams, there’s an iceberg of chronic health conditions that can be even more life threatening and these need far greater attention in emergency response. That is the theme of a global high […] Continue reading ->
As pressure intensifies on World Health Organization (WHO) member states to finalise a pandemic agreement by May, insiders are concerned by the snails’ pace of negotiations – primarily because they believe the negotiators have spent an inordinate amount of time on contentious issues while neglecting more procedural issues. After two years of negotiations, the eighth […] Continue reading ->
The sixth United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-6), which opened in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on Monday, is focusing on multilateral action to tackle climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. Around a million species are headed towards extinction, global temperature records were smashed in 2023 and pollution remains one of the world’s leading causes of […] Continue reading ->
After Kenya banned plastic bags back in 2018, an academic’s quest for alternative packaging has led to the development of eco-friendly sanitary towels. Dr Jackline Kisota wants her product to empower young girls while also conserving the environment she told the launch last October, which was graced by potential investors and UN representatives. According to […] Continue reading ->
In 2023, the Americas saw the highest recorded number of dengue cases of all time, with a total of 4,565,911 cases and 2,340 deaths, said the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in a recent call for stepped up efforts to control Aedes aegypti, the primary mosquito vector of the dengue virus. And already in the […] Continue reading ->
A much higher percentage of the population has experienced “persistent” COVID-19 infections lasting more than 30 days than initially assumed, according to new research by the University of Oxford. The study, published on February 21 in Nature, found that one to three of every 100 infections may last a month or longer. The scientists, using […] Continue reading ->
By 2050, around 70% of the global population is projected to reside in urban areas. While cities provide numerous advantages, they can also pose health risks to people and the environment. “Thoughtful planning and creation of inclusive urban spaces can have a significant impact on reducing the number of deaths attributed to poor air quality, […] Continue reading ->
In January, Ugandan LGBTQ activist Steven Kabuye was stabbed multiple times by two men travelling on a motorbike and left for dead on the outskirts of Kampala, the country’s capital city. The 25-year-old, who had received several death threats after Uganda’s Parliament passed its Anti-Homosexuality Act last May, criminalising LGBTQ people, said that the attackers […] Continue reading ->
A new report finds that the European Union, Japan and the Republic of Korea have been “dumping” used, and highly polluting trucks and buses on low- and middle-income countries. Heavy duty trucks and buses account for as much as 63% of PM2.5 pollution emissions from road vehicles globally. A new UN report has exposed a […] Continue reading ->
“In a digital age, health workers should not have to carry a separate device for each disease or be required to fill out both paper and electronic records,” said WHO Director Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Tuesday. He was speaking at WHO’s launch of the Global Initiative on Digital Health – where officials cut a […] Continue reading ->